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The National Trial Team at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law had an outstanding season this past year! The team advanced to Nationals at both major competitions, competed at Top Gun for the first time in over a decade, and rose in the rankings for all three major national ranking systems. Here are a few highlights from this past season:
Nationals at NTC and AAJ
For the first time in many years, the National Trial Team advanced to Nationals at both major national competition - the American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) and the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition (NTC). These two national competitions are the only open-registration tournaments in the country, and advancing to Nationals at both competitions is a very difficult accomplishment.
The advancing team from AAJ consisted of Katherine Coyle '24, Laura Milleker '24, Aurie Serrette '24, and Ashley Travis '24. The team was coached during Regionals by Lindsey Rennie '19 and Ope Glover '15. Our other AAJ team also finished as Regional Finalists; that team consisted of Colin Miller '24, Millicent Sasu '25, Marisa Koontz '25, and Trevor Patschorke '25, and was coached by Lindsay Hemminger '22, Michelle Lim '22, and Maria Stamidis '17.
The advancing team from NTC consisted of Thomas Kiley '24 and Becca Wells '24. That team was coached at Regionals by Fiona Puglese '20 and Dylan Elliott '20, and was coached at Nationals by Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16. Becca Wells was also named an Outstanding Advocate for Region 4.
Semifinalists at Top Gun and more
In addition to advancing at both national competitions, Maryland was invited to Top Gun for the first time in over a decade. You can read more about Maryland's performance at Top Gun here. Becca Wells '24 represented Maryland at Top Gun, and was assisted by second chair Thomas Kiley '24 and coach Ben Garmoe '16. Maryland finished as a semifinalist at Top Gun, widely considered to be the most difficult tournament in the country.
Maryland also finished as a semifinalist at the UC Berkeley National Flash Trial Competition. This tournament is open to only eight teams each year, and is unique by using the "flash trial" format. Competitors receive a new case file 45-60 minutes before each round, and they must work with their teammate and coach to prepare the case for a single round. Maryland was represented by Thomas Kiley '24 and Becca Wells '24, and the team was coached by Dylan Elliott '20 and Ben Garmoe '16.
Maryland also sent a hybrid team to the Atlanta William Daniel Competition that advanced to the semifinal round! This team consisted of two members of the National Trial Team and two members of the Thurgood Marshall Trial Team. NTT members were Joe Dowdell '24 and Amirah Loury '24, and TMTT members were Alaina Cohen '24 and Jadeite Javier '24. The team was coached by Thurgood Marshall Trial Team director Derrick Milburn '13, TMTT coach Tamia Morris '23, and Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16.
A team from Maryland made its way to New York City this past fall for the Fordham Judge Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr. Invitational Trial Competition, and that team finished as quarterfinalists! Fordham's Kelly Competition is one of the nation's elite invitation-only tournaments, and each school sends two advocates who must prepare both sides of a complex and factually dense case file. Maryland was represented by Becca Wells '24 and Giovanna Monti '25, and the team was coached by Ben Garmoe '16.
In addition to these team awards, Maryland advocates earned several individual awards throughout the year. Anne Moruzzi was named an Outstanding Advocate at the Hofstra Medical-Legal Competition, Sydney Branch earned an Outstanding Advocate award at South Carolina's Trials and Tribulations, Gus Glazov was named Most Valuable Advocate for the Syracuse National Trial League, and Becca Wells received an Outstanding Advocate award at both the UC Berkeley Flash Trial Competition and Region 4 of the National Trial Competition.
Rising in the rankings
These results have not gone unnoticed amongst the broader Trial Advocacy community. The Advocacy community has two primary internal ranking systems: Fordham's Trial Competition Performance Rankings, and Hofstra's GAVEL Rankings. Based on results from this past season, Maryland will be ranked 8th in the Hofstra rankings and 15th in the Fordham rankings. This makes Maryland one of a small number of programs to be ranked in the top 15 for both systems, and will help earn invitations to even more strong tournaments moving forward.
In addition, Maryland Carey Law rose to #36 in the 2024 U.S. News rankings for Trial Advocacy. The U.S. News rankings for advocacy are based entirely on community vote, so this improvement represents Maryland's growing reputation across the broader advocacy community.